Checkmate
by SickRose
Summary: "What if—someday—somebody carved Julian's name back onto that runestave?" That about sums it up, really. Jenny x Julian as well as Tom x OC *No I have not forgotten about our lovely Tom Locke* Hope you like it! Xx
1. Prologue

_A/N: My first fan-fic so please don't be too harsh on me. _

_This story will follow the lives of the main characters from the Forbidden Games Trilogy in their senior year, starting just before their Christmas holidays. I'll also introduce a new OC, a female shadowman here just to stir things up with Jenny and the gang, also the one we have to thank for carving Julian's name back onto the stave of life. _

_I'd like to dedicate this to my brilliant friend, xThugz Bunnyx, without whom I probably would never have got 'round to writing... anything at all. Also for suggesting loads of brill names for my OC who eventually we christened Neveah._

_I hope you enjoy it, please read & review!_

**_Disclaimer: Neveah © SickRose, all other characters © L. J. Smith._**

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**Prologue- Neveah.**

**Tom POV**

When Tom woke up that groggy Friday morning before the Christmas holidays he didn't expect to find out that one of his class mates was a shadow man, but, as his 'luck' would have it, he did.

Even if he _had _suspected it, however, Tom doubted he would have been able to guess who it was. That emo boy in his maths class, maybe, with the unnaturally dark eyes and too much pale make-up. He'd have thought it'd be someone as unusual both in appearance and personality as Julian had been. Someone with more of a _presence _in the human world_._

Although, now that he stood pinned against a wall by said being, nose just inches from his, he could sense the subtle unearthly diamond glitter behind those dead grey eyes staring so intently into his; see the dense black in the waves of hair capturing a dark rainbow of metallic blues, greens and purples like a ravens wing; feel the cool heat radiating through the material at the shoulder of his shirt from delicate, yet surprisingly firm, touch of her finger-tips.

_Her_.

Something else he would never have guessed; she was a shadow-_woman._ Why had he never thought about that? Julian had obviously been a male and those other shadow men – those deformed, mutated creatures _– they _could hardly be called men; they didn't resemble humans in any way. They were just, kind of, genderless.

She was a shadow-woman.

Neveah, that quiet girl who sat at the desk behind his in history, was a frickin' shadow-woman.

She smiled slowly at him as he struggled weakly against her grip at his shoulders. It scared Tom that part of him didn't _want _to get away. He watched her blossom-pink lips curl deliciously as she held him with ease.

"Aw, Tommy, you don't really want to get away from me so desperately, do you?" Neveah sounded genuinely hurt, as if Tom had just rejected her. As if she didn't have him pinned to a wall.

It unnerved him how she picked up on his weakness like that. Almost as if she read his mind.

Neveah laughed. A chorus of tinkling bells fell from her parted lips. "Ahah! Mind-reading! What an interesting concept, Tommy."

His eyes widened. No, she couldn't possibly– but she had. _Okay then, Tom, don't think. Anything you think gives her an advantage._ He told himself, immediately realising that he was contradicting himself with the mere thought. Cursing himself mentally, Tom realised that Neveah was waiting for him to speak.

"What do you want?" Tom demanded, surprised that the fear didn't show in his voice.

"Oh, nothing much…" She said in that sickly-sweet voice; so innocent, like honey flowing from her lips, Tom thought. "Just… You."


	2. Chapter 1 - Raven

_A/N: Yay, second part to my first story finally done! Sorry it took me so long to upload, especially since the prologue/chapter one wasn't particularly long. Anyway, I've already got a lot of content for the next couple of chapters so they shouldn't be too long in coming— I just got a little stuck in the mud part way through this one, mainly 'cause I don't particularly like Tom's view point although it's necessary for now. Eventually, inspiration struck in the form of a pigeon flying into my bedroom window. Doh. You'll see what I mean as you read._

_Hey, Julian's re-introduction is coming up in chapter two for all you Jenny x Julian fans! (July? Jenian? I don't have any cute couple names for these two)._

_Ah, speaking of couples… A Zac x Summer relationship was hinted at in the ending of the trilogy and I was wondering what you thought to that? Do you want to see Zac and Summer together in the next couple of chapters? If there's enough support for it in the reviews I'll definitely go for it (although it won't be a major focus point of this fic)—an author only writes to please her readers._

_****__Disclaimer: Neveah © SickRose, all other characters © L. J. Smith._

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**Chapter One – Raven**

**Tom POV**

Tom didn't know what to say to that. Neveah just kept on staring at him, unblinking, those cold crystal orbs staring straight into his own hazel ones. It unnerved Tom into speaking, just to break that stare.

"What? No! You can't _have _me. What do you mean? I've got a girlfriend!" _And god knows I don't deserve her_, he added mentally to himself, forgetting that Neveah could probably hear that, too.

"It is regardless; I _will _have you."

One of her hands had broken its grip on Tom's shoulder, allowing a long, pale finger trail up his neck, caressing his jaw line. Tom shivered from the cold that seemed to radiate from her icy pale skin, cringing away from her touch. This time when he struggled he managed to break away, probably only because Neveah let him. Either way he was glad of the increasing distance between them as he skittered away from the Neveah out of the class room and into the now deserted hallway.

"More Games store at nine." He heard her voice echo eerily behind him. Tom paused only a moment to take note of what she was saying.

Why on earth would he meet up with her after _that_? Hell, he was going to avoid her like the plague now, at all costs. Tom was just thinking how glad he was that this was the last day of school before the Christmas holidays when he heard her voice again.

"You'll come," She said simply. "You'll come if you value the lives of your friends."

Not stopping to listen to anything else, Tom broke into a run, his new trainers squeaking on the polished hall floor. There was a reason he was a star athlete and, not stopping, Tom was home in a matter of minutes.

Heart racing, breath coming in short pants, Tom fumbled with his keys as he finally reached his door-step. Letting himself in, a quick shout confirmed that he was home alone. It was hardly surprising, really. His parents were no doubt still at work, Bruce had moved out months ago and Greg… well, Greg was Greg, he'd be out somewhere. Whilst, any other day, Tom might've appreciated the solitude and space to think, today the silence seemed eerie with Neveah's last words to him still ringing clear in his mind.

_'You'll come if you value the lives of your friends' _

How had this happened? After everything they'd been through last summer you would've thought life would have the decency to leave them be. Julian had been right; life wasn't fair. Tom had been under the impression that everything was settling down for them. Sure, they'd gone through some shit having to explain Summer's unexplainable re-appearance and why they'd all ran off to Pennsylvania He wasn't entirely sure the police would ever trust any of them again despite the fact that his brother was on the force and it _had_ shaken them when Zach's house had been broken into, but they'd got through it all. It was fine. The first term of their senior year had gone fine. And now _this_.

Tom tried to recall anything that had happened involving Neveah over the school year but drew up a blank. All he could remember was that, at the start of the year, this new girl had come into his history class. She had been a shy, quiet one and didn't have any friends as far as Tom knew; she kind of kept herself to herself, disappearing in the shadows at any large gathering of people. Neveah had been easy not to notice; now he saw that she had probably planned it that way. Over the course of September and October, Neveah had gradually transferred into more of his classes. Again, Tom had brushed this aside, paying her no mind. He was a good enough student and was in most of the higher level classes, maybe he assumed that Neveah was a star student and the school were just noticing her potential. Smart and shy, that had seemed typical enough. It seemed Neveah had been working hard not to be noticed. Had she really been stalking him for that long without his notice?

_BANG! _

Hazel eyes wide in shock, Tom spun around to the source of the noise primed ready to fight… or run, whatever was necessary. Nothing. There was nothing there. In its own way that was even more unnerving than the possibility of what else might have made that sound. Still, Tom was frozen to the spot head spinning like a startled meerkat, trying to locate whatever it was. Just as he began to feel his heart-rate slow, shoulders relaxing as he convinced himself that it was just something falling over in the back yard, Tom spotted the faint, tell-tale mark on the glass patio doors. He almost laughed aloud.

A bird. It was just some stupid fluttery thing flying into his glass window. Tom rolled his eyes at himself as he peered closer through the glass to where the creature lay. What he saw immediately killed any sense of relieved humour. _Poor thing, _he thought staring at the small form lying deformedly sprawled out on the paving slab. It was only a tiny little bird, soft brown feathers spread exposing the fluffy white down on its delicate underside. Although he didn't particularly share Jenny's love of animals, Tom had to admit that this poor creature looked quite pitiful. The perfect image of defiled innocence. Its wing looked to be at an odd angle and the bird was in a daze at best, but this accident wasn't really a freak occurrence; birds flew into windows all the time. It would be up and flying in no time, wouldn't it?

Another sudden sound snagged his attention for a moment, but it was just the close croaking of a raven. It called again, closer this time, as Tom looked up to see the awkwardly large bird land on the post of his fence. Was the raven- Did it sound like it was _laughing_? Surely, now, his imagination was just… No. The _thing_—for now Tom had convinced himself it was more than an average bird—cawed again, cold beady grey eyes locking with his before it launched itself from the post and, with a few powerful strokes of its metallic wings, flew off into the distance, gliding circles with an easy elegance for such a large bird. The whole situation had left Tom more than slightly rattled.

God, this was frustrating! One conversation with Neveah had already left him in such a chaotic state of paranoia even the god-damn _birds _seemed evil. No, he couldn't let this continue. He couldn't allow himself to slip back into the state he was in after their first encounter with Julian. They'd been through a lot, they were all stronger people now, Tom was sure he'd face whatever Neveah had for him with the same determination in which Jenny had dealt with Julian. So he'd let himself think it was a bird.

_A bird, just a bird, just a normal, frickin' bird. _He kept up the mental chant as he turned his back to the patio doors, closing the blinds despite the state of daylight outside. After that, he went around the house switching on every TV, radio and CD player he could find, anything in attempt to return his mind to a state of normalcy and drown out any further avian squawks from outside. Eventually Tom came back downstairs having changed into a more comfortable tee-shirt and baggy jeans and, with his ear buds plugged firmly in his ears, flopped down on the sofa in the family room where, after a while, he gently drifted off into a light sleep…

Tom was almost at a peace of mind when his phone went off. Sitting up suddenly in his startled state, he looked around dazedly for his phone. One new message.

_Hey hun, _it read, _where r u? U were meant 2 b here ½ an hr ago, u ok? Luv J xx_

Ah, shit! Of course. How had he forgotten? They were meant meeting up at Jenny's place today for a small Christmas holiday celebration – the only time _all _of them would have been together after the events of last summer. It had completely slipped his mind after his run-in with Neveah. Oh God, he'd have to tell them about this. About everything. It was only fair on them, especially after Neveah's threat. God, how would Jenny react? She still suffered nightmares of Julian's death. None of them deserved this, not for Christmas. Would it really be so bad if he just hid the truth from them for a while? Telling them would only cause more shit for them, anyway, and hell knew that they'd all had enough shit to last several life-times. _What people don't know can't hurt them,_ he told himself in grim determination to face this alone, as he texted back Jenny.

_Srry Thorny, sum stuff came up- Im fine. B round in a min. Luv u lots xx_

So with slumped shoulders Tom set off into the late afternoon, choosing to walk the short distance between his house and Jenny's. Even as he turned the corner onto Mariposa Street to what should have been a night of fun and friendship, Tom couldn't quite shake the croaking call of the raven, nor the feeling of eyes watching his back.

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_Thank you for reading, please take the time to review, all your comments mean so much to me! Tell you what, if you review this for me, no matter how critical you want to be (as long as it's phrased constructively and not intended as insult), I'll read and honestly review any of your stories for you. Deal?  
_

_Again, thank you all you wonderful readers! I'll have the next chapter posted before the end of this week, promise. Xx_


	3. Chapter 2 - Shattered Shadow

_A/N: Thank you anyone who's still with me after this unforgivably long wait for an update, but I love you all for reading this far. _

_I would like to dedicate this chapter to my brilliant and inspiring friend __**mockingjay01**__. Even if you're mad at me at the moment—I still love you! Thank you so much for the endless nagging over the past weeks to make me update, I never would have done this without you! And, as promised, I _will _make sure I am ready to update by Saturday (my official "update day" now—another brill idea of hers). Mockingjay, I would also like to say sorry that I couldn't fit Michael/Audrey into this chapter, but you can see why it wouldn't work. I promise their chapter is coming up soon!_

_Other than that, hope you enjoy! And, as always, please read and review! (Just to let you know, if you review for me, I'll review for you—spreading the positive karma! ^_~)_

_**Disclaimer: Neveah © SickRose, all other characters © L. J. Smith.**_

**Chapter Two – Shattered Shadow**

**Julian POV**

"Go to the dream." Jenny's soft voice instructed. Her last words to him—perhaps the only words of hers which he would ever obey—before the aching numbness consumed him entirely. And go to the dream he did. Infinite fluttering thoughts he floated on and in-between, sometimes he would even catch the glowing golden essence of Jenny's own dreams but there was no rest, no peace. Not for him. Not now. Now he saw that he hadn't really, truly, _died._ Perhaps the fates had always planned for his rebirth. It seemed like little more than a dream. A dream that you don't even know you're dreaming until you awaken and then memories haze and blur too fast for you to recall anything save from maybe that vague sense of tranquillity. And just like any mortal dream, Julian was all-too reluctant to be awoken from it.

A raw, tortured, infant-like scream was the first thing that alerted Julian to his consciousness. It took another couple of moments to realise that it was _his_ scream. The creation of a shadow-man was no easy event—not for either the creator or the creat_ed—_and this second re-birth was no less painful than his first.

Julian felt every slash, every cut, gouged into the rune stave deep in his very _being_. Translated into runes, his name felt so very long—the sharp, scarring pain seemed endless. He didn't even bother to retain his cries this time.

Finally, the long, agonizing seconds passed one by one, impossibly drawn out, and Julian's torture was over. His body fell crumpled to the floor, he was breathing heavily, entire body shaking as he tried to gulp down the cool air to sooth the searing wounds inside. Even when he felt secure that his surroundings were no longer going to vault him off balance, Julian couldn't be bothered to sit up_. Why? What's the point? Why does it even matter anymore?_ Until the distracted mutter of the other presence that Julian hadn't taken the time to acknowledge caught his attention.

"What did you say?" Julian demanded sitting bolt upright, now. _Surely it wasn't what he thought…_ but other refused to acknowledge his question with little more than a tilt of the head from where the figure sat—so far above him self—on a stack of tables. She was perched on the edge with an effortless elegance—despite the fact that the stacked tables seemed like a rather precarious structure—like she could she just take off and fly at a moment's notice. Eyes wide and expression neutral, she was looking down on him in the way a curious child might, as if she was wondering what he would do next. Julian had never seen this woman before but he knew she was of the Shadow race and, judging by the still-bleeding slash on her wrist, she was also the one who had engraved his name onto the rune stave.

"_What_ did you say?" he repeated threateningly, voice filled with more ice than _Isa _could summon. He knew what she had said but he wanted to hear her repeat it.

The woman smiled sweetly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must have been talking aloud to myself. Don't mind me."

Somehow it was that sticky-sweet voice that finally betrayed Neveah's identity to him. Neveah. Julian had never known Neveah, but he certainly knew _of _her. It was hard not to. Neveah was somewhat infamous. She didn't co-operate with the other shadow men as was expected of her, she wasn't even a loner by exclusion like Julian. Neveah's malicious schemes went as much against her own species as they did humans—her _preferred_ choice of game. Someone with such a twisted sense of the word 'fun', someone with no care in the world save her own personal amusement, someone as dangerous, cunning and determined as Neveah was simply too dangerous to be allowed existence. That was why her name was scratched out so often... but some idiot always found an excuse to bring her back. That was how manipulative Neveah could be; even in her non-existence she found a way to get under people's skin. If what he'd heard was true, the last time she had been granted a breathing body, Neveah had indirectly started world war one.

And now she wanted Tom.

"You can't have Tom" Julian told her, jaw set rigid.

"I'm sorry," She said, innocently raising an eyebrow. "I didn't realise you had first claim on him... I didn't realise you liked that sort of thing either." She added, teasingly.

Julian was somewhat taken aback at this not-so-subtle suggestion. "No, I don't have any claim on Tom... But he's _Jenny's_, you can't just take him for yourself."

"Oh, you know I wouldn't just_ take_ him... What would be the fun in that? It wouldn't be _fair_; he's got to have a fighting chance. Another game is in order, I think..." Neveah trailed off, musing the many possibilities she could torture Tom— and, indirectly, Jenny—with.

Julian stared at her in horror. Neveah smiled, seemingly taking delight in his suffering.

"Of course, when I win, that would leave Jenny easier prey to you... Since it seems you failed miserably your first _three_ attempts." Her voice turned sour for the last part of her sentence. Maybe it indicated that she might at least be hearing his words, though he doubted that she would actually _listen._ It was a poorly concealed attempt to anger him—and it worked, but not how she had intended.

"No, that's not right. I don't _want_ Jenny; I just want her to be happy—and she's happy with Tom."

Neveah leaned back slightly, head tilted to him, causing a black cascading waterfall of hair to spill over her shoulder as she looked down on Julian, assessing him. "Death has not been kind to you, has it? Where's your sense of fun? Of risk and gamesmanship? You are nothing more than a shattered shadow of a man."

"Nor has death been kind to you; it seems you are only made more heartless each time" Julian was deathly angry now but it all seemed to merely reflect off Neveah. She still remained cool as she teased and played with him. Now she was putting on a mask of pouting.

"Aw, Julian, that hurts; I do not mean to be." She sniffled, wiping away a non-existent tear before dropping the act and returning to her usual cool self. This only made Julian madder.

"I love her! Do you even know what that means?!" He yelled.

A dark shadow seemed to pass behind Neveah's glittering grey eyes. She paused dangerously before replying. "I know enough." She stated simply, pulling out a lethal-looking ceremonial knife as she did so.

It seemed that Neveah had tired of their conversation as, in one seamless movement, she_ floated_ from the top of the stacked tables, drawing a few more beads of blood from her wrist with the knife upon landing. Painting over the rusty stains of the runes engraved in the doorway across the room with her fresh scarlet blood, before chanting aloud the name of each rune in turn, intoning each syllable as a lover would the name of his mate. Whilst Neveah was distracted, Julian took the time to survey his surroundings. Where were they? Oh. Of course. Where else? When he thought about it, he saw that this was the most convenient pre-existing break between Jenny's world and his. Naturally, it was one that he, himself, had originally made in his pursuit of Jenny. Only he'd assumed it had been destroyed—the last time he'd been here the room had been smothered in flames. Although, once created, nothing in the shadow-world was ever really destroyed. It seemed that, somehow, Jenny's cousin—Zach—had recreated the print, allowing the inter-world connection to be re-established. This was the picture of Jenny's school cafeteria, the place where he'd held captive Jenny's friends.

That meant that the door Neveah was taking out into the human world would probably lead into Zachary's garage. Neveah couldn't be stopped. Julian knew, with a sickening sense of foreboding, that he had no choice but to follow.


End file.
